


Why Ripley Saved Jones

by BuffyRowan



Series: Ripley's Reasons [2]
Category: Alien (1979)
Genre: Gen, M/M, director's cut version, follows cannon, set just post-movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 02:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1288441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuffyRowan/pseuds/BuffyRowan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reason why Ripley was so concerned about saving the cat</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Ripley Saved Jones

**Author's Note:**

> had to do it, I really did. Because as much as I love animals, if there's a big nasty alien trying to eat me, the cat can fend for himself. I just had to make sense of why she was so concerned about saving Jones. Also, I watched the Director's cut, so the reference to what Ripley did for Dallas and Brett refers to a scene that is in that version, but not the original cut of the movie.

She was the last woman standing. That fucking thing had killed all of the others. As far as she was concerned, Dallas and Brett had been dead before she found them, she'd just taken care of the bodies. But she couldn't leave Jonesy.

It wasn't because she particularly loved cats, either. She didn't /hate/ cats, but she'd never claim to be a cat /lover/, either. Lambert had been the one more likely to fuss over and play with Jones, always trying to lure him up on her lap for a cuddle. But Ripley couldn't leave the little guy to be alien chow, either. Because he'd been Kane and Dallas's, together.

The day before they'd left Earth, she'd heard the two men talking. She'd been sitting behind them in the commissary, and they'd been talking about their plans for after the mission. One last run, then retire. They'd bought a little place, they'd find some sort of consulting or planet-based gigs to keep busy. And they'd adopt. She'd always thought Jones was a stab at keeping the crew a bit happier and (relatively) more sane out there. She'd never known that the cat was a practice child for the men. And they'd have been good dads, from what she'd heard. They were really into the idea, looking forward to a kid they didn't even have yet. 

From the moment Dallas had demanded she break quarantine procedure, Ripley knew losing Kane would shatter Dallas. She'd expected and forgiven Lambert's attack almost before the woman had made it, knowing that Kane had taken her under his wing as a sort of little sister. And from the moment Dalls said he'd be the one in the vents hunting the thing, Ripley had known he wasn't coming back. The man had just performed a burial at sea for his husband, his other half, he didn't have anything to come back for. She couldn't bring Kane back, but she could make sure that the only son Kane and Dallas had survived this shitstorm.

Ripley held Jones on her lap, stroking him absently as she recorded her message. The cat had been more clingy and affectionate than she'd ever seen him before. Maybe the alien had scared him, but she thought he knew that his "dads" were gone. As a living legacy, one cat mightn't be much, but Ripley intended to make damn sure that cat lived a very long, very contented life. It was the only thing she could do for the men she hadn't been able to save.


End file.
